Man Utd Have A Serious Player In Youri Tielemans

Youri Tielemans made his Manchester United debut in a 1-1 draw against Paris Saint-Germain in the fourth match of pre-season. 

Tielemans returned to action alongside Diogo Dalot, Bruno Fernandes and Noussair Mazraoui. Matheus Cunha and Senne Lammens were also expected to be involved, but they remained at Carrington due to illnesses. They will join the squad next week in Dublin. 

Michael Carrick has also confirmed that Kobbie Mainoo, Lisandro Martínez and Marcus Rashford – who reported to Carrington on Sunday – will join the squad in the Republic of Ireland next week. 

Tielemans will be looking to increase his minutes next week after playing just under 30 minutes against PSG, especially since fellow new signing Andrey Santos played over 60 minutes for the third time in pre-season. 

Before the PSG match, many expected Santos and Mason Mount to be the starting pair against Hull City in the first fixture of the Premier League campaign, but Mount's early substitution has cast some doubt on that. Michael Carrick has confirmed it was a precautionary decision, but Mount's history with injuries does not offer United fans too much hope. 

"He got kicked," Carrick said. "We just wanted to be careful and look after him [Mount]. We've been lucky with injuries so far, so we wanted to be careful."

Tielemans replaced Santos after 64 minutes to partner Tyler Fletcher (who came on for Mount in the first half) at the base of midfield. Bruno Fernandes played ahead of them, with Jack Fletcher on the right and Shea Lacey on the left. 

Just before United's changes, PSG brought on Marquinhos, Nuno Mendes, Vitinha, and Joao Neves – all of whom were key in their back-to-back Champions League wins. 

Tielemans rose to the challenge, though. He looked more than happy to receive the ball under pressure, whilst always finding a teammate with his second or third touch. In that sense, he played similarly to Andrey Santos. 

But what Tielemans has that Santos does not is a progressive pass from deep. Santos can play passes through the lines – to great success, may I add – but his passing ability is nowhere near that of Tielemans. In the same way that Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo were both great last season, but one of them is clear above the other when it comes to aerial ability. 

Bruno Fernandes was played through by Tielemans, but his shot was poor and an easy save for the PSG goalkeeper. But even if he did score, the highlight would have been the pass. Tielemans picked up the ball, dropped his shoulder to send Ibrahim Mbaye the wrong way, took a little touch to put the ball in front of him, and played a trivela pass which bypassed five PSG defenders and played Fernandes in on goal. Not bad, eh? 

Since Paul Pogba left, Manchester United have lacked a player who can pick the ball up, turn, and accurately launch it over 50 yards. They do not lack that player anymore. 

Since Youri Tielemans' £35 million move from Aston Villa was announced, I have been of the opinion that he could not play next to Kobbie Mainoo for Manchester United.

I have now come to the conclusion I am wrong. 

While neither are what you would describe as an out-and-out defensive midfielder, they both have the ability to screen the backline, blocking passes through the lines and forcing the opposition to play wide. In the same vein, they can both cover ground reasonably well after Mainoo's improvements in that area last season. 

In possession, they suit each other very well. Tielemans can pick the ball up from anywhere and play it forward, while Mainoo can do the same thing through his progressive carries. 

Both can drop in between the central defenders to pick up the ball, and equally, they can both arrive late in the penalty area and score a winner late on. They are incredibly well-rounded footballers. 

Andrey Santos may be given the nod to start against Hull City in the first Premier League fixture, given Mainoo is yet to even train with the first-team squad this summer, but it would not be a surprise to see Mainoo and Tielemans play together sooner rather than later.